Powers
Powers are magical traits caused by the possession of a piece of The All. They are a biological part of beings that predominately resides in the blood. A power can manifest itself in several ways: in the onset of puberty, as a reflex when a being is in direct need, or just when the being is ready to receive the power. Powers are neither good nor evil, it's a matter of how they are used. However, over centuries, several powers have been associated with either one of the sides. For example; the ability to create fire is associated with evil and demons were known to commonly possess fire-based powers. Other powers, like Blinking, which is now considered to be a standard warlock power, used to be a typical witch power during the 17th century. It is very dangerous for mortals to gain possession of powers because they are not meant to have them. As described in the Book of Shadows, mortals become confused, then frightened, paranoid, violent, and demonic, and will ultimately die unless the powers are withdrawn. Categories of Powers Stealing Powers The most common M.O. of demons and warlocks is to steal powers from other magical beings to increase their own strength. Killing another witch and stealing his or her powers will turn a witch into a warlock. As such, warlocks generally steal the powers of witches; though they will also target other beings to build their power base and achieve their personal end goals. All warlocks possess the innate ability to kill other magical beings and absorb their magic though an athame. Most demons, by contrast, lack the natural ability to steal powers. Some upper level and fewer lower level demons do have this ability. Other demons require spells, rituals or magical objects in order to steal powers. Demons generally steal powers to build up their own power and strength, to climb the ladder of the demonic hierarchy and eventually take over the Underworld. Methods of Power Stealing In order to obtain the powers from another being one must usually kill it. This is the preferred way for demons and warlocks. They generally use a lethal power or an athame, after which they absorb the powers. Warlocks prefer to use only an athame, since athames can be used to channel magic. When warlocks and demons (with the ability to steal powers) kill their victims the powers automatically transfer from victims into the warlocks. However, when using a special type of athame, warlocks and demons can store the powers into the blade until they are ready to absorb them. Evil witches generally use spells and potions to steal another witch's powers. This allows them to steal powers, unknown to the victim as well as steal them from a distance and without any harm. Vanquishing the evil witch usually sends back the stolen powers to their original possessors, should they still be alive. To Call a Witch's Powers This spell, which can be found in the Book of Shadows, is used to steal the powers from another witch. First one has to brew a potion, which has to be consumed, willingly or unwillingly, by the witch whose powers are sought. After consumption, the adjoining spell then has to be chanted to steal and absorb the powers. This spell was supposedly added to the Book of Shadows to teach future witches a lesson about personal gain, or to reclaim stolen powers. Binding Powers : Main article: Power Binding This refers to the process of using a spell or potion to disable a witch's basic and active powers, rendering them powerless. The act of binding does not remove the powers but simply makes them dormant until the binding was undone. This can be achieved by reversing the unbinding, becoming unbound under stressful situations or due the death of the person who performed the binding. Binding is usually performed on young witches as they are considered incapable of properly using their powers until old enough, and that having powers is potentially dangerous as it makes them targets to evil beings or simply because their active power is too destructive. Examples of binding include: * In an alternate reality where the existence of magic was known by mortals and witches were persecuted, Piper contemplated binding her daughter Melinda's powers so that she would be safe from exposure. While initially set on having Melinda's powers bound using a spell, Piper decided at the last minute not to. * When the Charmed Ones encountered the Evil Enchantress, who was bent on becoming the Queen of 12th century kingdom by magically manipulating the Prince and conceiving his heir, they resolved to stop her plot permanently by binding her powers, as she was a powerful evil witch that could conjure the elements. They bound her powers using a Binding Potion by throwing it near her. * Tyler Michaels voluntarily had his powers bound, being a young Firestarter who couldn't control his pyrokinetic abilities and was almost made a student in the training academy of a demon named Ludlow. His power eventually became unbound five years later when he was attacked by demons. Piper made the potion used to bind his powers, while also considering whether to she should bind her own child's powers. * The Stillman Sisters was a trio of low-level evil witches who gained notoriety for their small-time cons and hustles. This granted them an entry in the Book of Shadows; though it was only a small paragraph that claimed they weren't worth vanquishing and instructed the reader to only bind their magic if they proved to be a nuisance. The Charmed Ones eventually did so after the Stillman sisters took their identities. Disempowering Beings Tuatha Disempowers the Charmed Ones An two-hundred year old evil witch called Tuatha was accidentally freed from her prison. In order to prevent the Charmed Ones from killing her, she disempowered them. The spell required a fresh human heart for each witch who had to be disempowered. However, her spell did not bind the potion making ability of the Charmed Ones, but their potions had no effect on her. A few years later, the warlock Bacarra, used the same method as Tuatha, though he only required one heart. Counteracting Powers When vanquishing an evil being, it may happen that powers have to be counteracted. The Charmed Ones Vanquish Eames : Main article: Eames Vanquishing Spell In 2001 the Charmed Ones faced the warlock Eames. He had been planning to kill all Elders and Whitelighters since the late 1980s. In order to vanquish him, the Charmed Ones had to counteract three powers he had stolen; cloning, transmogrification, and deflection. They did so using the following spell; : Time for amends, and a victim's revenge. : Cloning power turn sour. : Power to change turn to strange, : I'm rejectin' your deflection. The last three lines where individually written by one of the sisters and counteracted a specific power. Phoebe noted that her line (the last one) sounded a little western. Relinquishing Powers Only to be done in direst emergency, powers can be relinquished. Simply put, powers can be given up. This can be accomplished by a spell. : Related article: To Relinquish Our Powers Rex Buckland Blackmails Prue Halliwell A warlock only known by his alias as Rex Buckland, was able to blackmail Prue Halliwell. With the use of trickery and magic, Rex made Prue steal a valuable tiara at the auction house she worked at, thus framing a robery. When Prue was put in jail, her sisters helped her to escape but while they ran away, they were caught by Rex, who had taken a photograph of their escape. He proposed that the sisters used the relinquishing spell in their Book of Shadows, and give him their charmed powers. After a long discussion and with no other choice, the sisters agreed and did as he said. They cast the relinquishment spell and stored their powers in a magical container that Rex had given them. As the sisters handed over their powers to Rex, he ordered his partner and lover, Hannah to kill them. However on that moment, Leo Wyatt, the Charmed Ones' Whitelighter, used his powers to reverse the magic and undo the relinquishment spell. This caused for the sisters' powers to return, making them able to rescue themselves from Hannah, who had transformed herself into a black panther. Back at the Manor, the sisters decided to burn the entry from their Book of Shadows, making it unable for future generations to relinquish their powers. The Spell Kept Safe in Piper's Mind Piper got kidnapped by the Source of All Evil. He had learned that Piper had memorized the relinquishment spell before she and her sisters burned the page from the Book of Shadows a few years back. By entering her mind, he tried to manipulate her. By making her believe that she was mentally ill, that her being a witch was part of her imagination, he tried to make her say the spell to cure her of her illness. The Source almost succeeded, had it not been for the intervention of Piper's sisters and Leo. Powers in MortalsEdit Mortals are humans who possess no magical powers and whose biological functions doesn't allow them to. It has been established that if mortals are granted too much power, they will fall into a state of paranoia and insanity as their body and mentality is not prepared for dealing with them Magic switched and supernatural beings were stripped of their powers, while mortals were granted them. However, in this case, mortals didn't suffer any kind of paranoia or insanity, presumably due to the magical balance being switched to allow them to handle the magic as well as beings in the Magical Community could. Category:Powers